The benefits of early reading for babies are countless, including recognizing words, learning knowledge, and stimulating imagination… A study by Yale University shows that reading can activate children’s nervous system, neural networks, and their connections. Therefore, early reading makes it easier for children’s brains to accept new learning content.
There are so many benefits, of course, it’s important to read them carefully. However, for children who enjoy playing around, sitting down and reading quietly can be quite challenging. Even the most interesting picture books are often flipped twice before being thrown aside. What should we do? Is my child born with a dislike for reading?
NO! Reading is a habit. If your baby doesn’t fall in love with reading, it’s mostly because you haven’t done these 10 things well!
1. Have children read at a “fixed time” every day
In our home, reading is like eating and brushing teeth, it is a habit. Not long after the child was born, I started telling her bedtime stories and reading picture books. This not only promotes parent-child relationships, but also helps children develop reading habits from an early age. If your family doesn’t have this habit, it doesn’t matter. Starting from now on, the younger the child is, the better it will be done.
2. The more playful parents make the content in the book, the more interested the child becomes
Some mothers ask, although these picture books and stories are so interesting, the child loses interest after flipping through them twice? That’s because he’s still a child! I can’t tell the reason for reading by myself. My child’s father’s approach is to play roles, imitate the protagonist’s tone and intonation, exaggerate and read aloud the dialogue in the book, and sometimes add exaggerated expressions and body movements. These may seem like fools, but they really make the child more fond of listening to adults reading. A thin picture book can perform for an hour without any problem!
3. Don’t make children read too utilitarian
What is the most important purpose of cultivating children’s interest in reading? Would you like them to master the knowledge earlier? No, the most important thing is to make children understand the joy of reading and fall in love with it. This way, the child will also become a bookish person in the future. So don’t force children to read or learn anything, and don’t constantly check their reading achievements. This will only make children feel that reading becomes a heavy task and become more resistant to reading.
4. Don’t be too particular about the posture of reading, let children read in their preferred posture
In the eyes of children, reading is a comfortable and lazy thing, so sometimes children will lie on the ground or lie on the sofa reading. At this point, there will be mothers who cannot bear to correct their children’s sitting posture. But never! This can easily cause emotional confrontation in children. If you argue with them, it can greatly affect their reading, especially when they focus on their posture.
5. Having books everywhere at home makes reading more casual
I think reading is actually a very casual thing, try not to make children take reading as seriously as completing a task. I often leave books suitable for children at home, such as their bedside table, sofa, coffee table, etc., so that they can easily access the books and look good.
6. Parents become role models for reading, better than teaching thousands of times
I believe you have also found that many things do not need to be taught, and children will actively imitate. For example, imitating your speech, singing, and even cleaning the floor… Reading is no exception, and parents’ personal demonstration is better than repeated preaching. Reading newspapers and books in front of children can also arouse their curiosity and interest in books. You can set a family reading time. After dinner, Duo Ma has the habit of reading newspapers. I also started reading, and the children would find picture books to watch and play with us.
7. Often take children to libraries, bookstores, or attend book clubs
Children often find themselves in a reading atmosphere and find that reading is something everyone should do, which helps to enhance their confidence in reading. Take your child to a book club if you have the opportunity, especially if you can meet peers, they will gain more recognition. (Follow the WeChat official account: Duo Ma’s parent-child time, talk about child rearing)
8. Never use reading as a punishment
I have a friend who will stipulate how many pages a child must read or how many books they must read every day as a punishment. She believes that this punishment will make children more exposed to books. But the result was counterproductive, as this approach would sow emotional seeds of resistance to reading in the child’s psyche. Once he formed such a view, he would become even more resistant to reading. Parents should actively guide their children to enjoy and experience that pleasure, so that they naturally fall in love with reading.
9. Buy enough books for children and update their library
It is undeniable that children read books very quickly, and mothers should not always think that ‘children haven’t read through books yet and don’t need to buy new books’. Such ideas can easily dampen children’s enthusiasm for reading. Even if children love a certain book, their patience is limited, and always reading a certain book is not beneficial for them. Parents constantly enrich their children’s library and expose them to different books, so as not to constantly limit their children’s thinking.
10. Allowing children to tell stories also stimulates their enthusiasm for reading
I also create opportunities for children to tell stories or read aloud to others. If there are two children in the family, encourage older children to tell stories to the children. If it is an only child, encourage them to tell stories to their friends. This method will make children more engaged and detailed in reading, and also exercise their language organization ability and imagination. (Follow the WeChat official account: Duo Ma’s parent-child time, talk about child rearing)
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